05 November 2024

Brisanet, Ligga/Sercomtel and TIM have been declared the winners of Brazil’s first reverse mobile auction, held by the Ministry of Communications, the regulator Anatel and Seja Digital, the group involved in effecting the transition to digital TV broadcasting in Brazil, which has opened up 4G spectrum.

This event marks the first 100% digital auction to choose operators to install and operate telephony and mobile internet antennas in 59 unserved remote locations.

Brisanet, Ligga/Sercomtel and TIM will operate in the states of Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pernambuco, Rondônia, Tocantins and Ceará. They will have 90 days, which may be extendable, to install and operate the infrastructure.

The auction was held in the reverse format, in which the participants who gave the lowest bids for each location won. The event had a ceiling of BRL108.8 million and was concluded with a 41% discount. The difference will be allocated to other stages of the project, with at least one more round of reverse auction planned. Cloud2u and Claro were also bidders.

The investment will be BRL64 million, a saving of 41% compared to the auction reference value. Operators were able to choose one or more locations from the list and make a single bid for each one, below the limit stipulated in the notice. The company that adopted the lowest subsidy amount won.

According to Carlos Baigorri, president of Anatel, the first edition of the auction was considered a success. It will be a pilot for others to be carried out to use the remaining balance of BRL250 million in available resources.